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The chef has never cooked professionally before. The stretch of The Danforth it’s on is already chockablock with restaurants. And the food is German, a cuisine that hasn’t done well downtown, given the short lives of Bohemian Gastropub and Elle m’a Dit.

Yet with its European café vibe and homey fare, it would be wrong to count out Das Gasthaus.

Owner and first-time chef Ruthie Cummings opened Das Gasthaus on the Riverdale end of Danforth Ave. last June.

The welcoming space is chic and eclectic, with Old World high ceilings and twinkly chandeliers.

There are tufted green velvet banquettes and bentwood chairs. Daily specials are written on a large blackboard, while a vase of red roses adds a feminine touch to the curved black bar where locals eat alone. Female guests are called “madam.” The bill is always handwritten and delivered on a metal salver.

One waiter works the floor, a downside when the room is full. On the plus side, he’s unflappable.

“Oh that’s just Ruthie dropping her teeth,” he announces after a crash resonates from the kitchen.

Until this point in her 25-year hospitality career, Ruthie Cummings stayed on the other side of the kitchen door, as a manager or sommelier. Now she’s mining her German roots and joining the new wave of Berlin and Frankfurt cooks serving smaller portions, modernized recipes and artisanal products.

“There’s this idea that German food is very old-fashioned, heavy, rich. I want to dispel this. It’s just as classically made as French or Italian food, just with different spicing. We use juniper instead of rosemary,” Cummings says.

Beer is a big focus, with heavy glass tankards doubling as candleholders. Try such imports as the smoky Schlenkerla from Bamberg, a brewery that’s been toasting barley malt over flames since at least 1405. (Take that, Molson.)

The cooking at Das Gasthaus is heartfelt, if inconsistent. If you like onions, potatoes and pork, you’ll find something to enjoy.

Best bets are the flammkuchen ($8), cracker-like flatbreads sliced and served on wooden boards. The flour-oil-water dough doesn’t sag under the standard topping of sour cream and emmenthal; Germanic glories like double-smoked bacon ($2) or limburger cheese ($3) are optional.

Mennonite bacon shows up again in a $7 side order of spaetzle seasoned with nutmeg. The soft dumplings are fried crisp, nicely salted and served in a small cast-iron skillet. They are one of Gasthaus’s better moments, along with a skillet of roast potatoes ($5) slippery with caramelized onions and duck fat.

“The Germans have it on the Irish when it comes to potatoes,” Cummings laughs.

Another winner is a hamburger ($14) made of pork trimmed from the inside round used for schnitzel. The pale, juicy patty sits on a toasted bun dressed with smoked-tomato sour cream and homemade dill pickles.

There are surprises. A $5 salad of acid-brightened brassicas — julienned kale, raw red cabbage and kohlrabi — is entirely free of mayonnaise. Red cabbage also shows up in the homemade sauerkraut ($5), staining it pink. Vegetables like organic carrots are cooked al dente, a first for me in a lifetime of eating Mitteleuropean food.

With dessert, it’s clear the Peter Principle has kicked in. Better for Cummings to purchase a Black Forest cake than make pretzel bread pudding sprinkled with kosher salt ($7), as unpleasant as licking a winter sidewalk. A $12 skillet of granola with sour cherries and pears is another “nein,” as is apple strudel ($7) wrapped in gummy puff pastry.

Cummings recently hired a cook trained in pastry, which might help shore up this weak spot. Other changes sound less promising, like her plan to install televisions and broadcast sports to create a pub atmosphere.

I can see the appeal of a stylish German café (check out Gasthaus’s rococo bathrooms). A sports bar with sauerkraut? That’s a whole new ballgame.

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